Spring Blooms Eternal

Dancing a Jig with James Joyce's Ghost

Happy Bloomsday!!!!

June 16^th, the glorious day when Leopold Bloom wandered the streets of Dublin where nothing and everything happened all at the same time. On this day when many celebrate the novel Ulysses and its author, James Joyce, I raise a toast of fresh Java and a Bong of juicy greens!

In Chapel Perilous: The Life & Thought Crimes of Robert Anton Wilson I argue that Wilson presaged the future epistemic confusion of our current algorithmic maelstrom. However, Wilson would counter such an audacious, yet accurate, claim that James Joyce was the guy. He was the one who saw where it was going and then went blind.

Many Joyce’s artistic innovations have been metabolized into the process of creation, yet his insights on remain distant somewhere beyond the horizon, as humans struggle with the notion of identity like never before. Joyce reminds us to let the river run and have a little fun before we are swept away.

In 1954, six Irishmen, five being artists, and the last being a dentist, created the first Bloomsday pilgrimage. It was organized by Brian O’Nolan, aka Flann O’Brien, author of The Third Policeman as well as other finely absurd novels, and John Ryan, the artist, critic, and Dublin pub owner. The pair managed to gather four willing participants; Patrick Kavanaugh, the novelist and poet, Anthony Cronin, the poet and biographer, AJ Con Leventhal, the lecturer and essayist, and Tom Joyce, the dentist and cousin of James with the plan to walk the path that Leopold Bloom had in the novel. They began at Martello Tower, where the book begins, with plan to finish their journey in the part of Dublin that was the red-light district at the turn of the 20^th century. Their plan was aborted however, when tired from walking, they dipped into John Ryan’s pub thus converting the pilgrimage into libations and confabulations as they celebrated Joyce with drink and song.

In 1982, on the 100^th Anniversary of Joyce’s birth, Wilson, along with his wife, Arlen, walked the streets of Dublin, in a state of elevation even weed and acid failed to elicit. RAW entered a state of “mini-Satori,” and had a “peak experience,” from being present in Dublin as bands of actors performed the different episodes of Ulysses simultaneously all over the city. It truly was a magical experience, decades before Alternative Reality Games, LARPING, and interactive theater even became a thing, as Wilson “entered” the novel that day. He also realized that he was walking the same streets as his grandfather had before leaving Ireland for Brooklyn. Bob realized that he was completing a cipher, returning to the land that his father never could. After such a high energy day, what was supposed to be a summer trip to Ireland for Bob and Arlen turned into a six-year sabbatical, resulting in some of his finest work.

I, along with Thee Semiotic Alchemyst, was lucky enough to experience Bloomsday in Dublin at the very beginning of writing Chapel Perilous. It was that trip across the Atlantic Ocean where the idea of a Biography about Wilson was born actually! Not only was Joyce’s spirit dancing a jig in the background ephemera between each line of my book, all the Irish writers, poets, singers, revolutionaries, and schizophrenics were all there. Something about Ireland being the place where Chapel Perilous was conceived provided a nuclear-powered dedication to sticking with it and finally finishing the book. I did it so I could share with others who love the work of RAW and love Art and those brave, flawed heroes and heroines who dare to step outside their genetic vectors to create artifacts for their short time on this beautiful rotating blue dot floating along in an ever expanding universe. So I take a short moment this day to raise a glass in celebration of James Joyce, Robert Anton Wilson, the five writers and the dentist who started the whole thing, and every artist out there who reminds others that the spark of creativity in every one of us.

It was on Bloomsday again just two years ago when Joseph Matheny, author of Ong’s Hat and Alternative Reality Games pioneer, provided sage advice on the release of Chapel Perilous. “Just put it out yourself, man.” And I did with a satisfying result. We live in an era where the walls are tumbling down in every industry, where the dissolution of gatekeeping has allowed for some great art to grow from the grass roots. In the absence of a corporate structure, the work involved for the artist is double or triple time. Chapel Perilous: The Life & Thought Crimes of Robert Anton Wilson has sold tremendously from word of mouth discussions and lots of interviews. The book is now available in a handful of Los Angeles bookstores all over LA. The work is in progress to get the book into bookstores nationwide and available in other countries!!!

Also, I mentioned this already, but Chapel Perilous is also available in Spanish. I currently have a few copies of the Spanish translation so if you are interested in those, hit me up!

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I was recently a guest on the New Thinking Allowed show, hosted by Jeffrey Mishlove, where we spoke about Robert Anton Wilson’s book, The New Inquisition.

We covered some of the topics RAW wrote about in the book, but I felt the book deserved a deeper analysis than one hour long interview. So, I wrote two articles that explore the theoretical framework for Wilson’s “Model Agnosticism,” below.

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Here’s some new Kool stuff to check out!

Joseph Matheny, creator of the Ong’s Hat “conspiracy,” has just released part 4 of his Ong’s Hat Compleat series.

LXOR has a new album out. I’ve written about his work before, and I highly recommend his music!

Bobby Campbell is releasing his third installment of his Tales of Illuminatus! comic. Check out his website.

Ceschi Ramos joined forces with Sam King of Get Dead, Fat Mike from NOFX and The D.O.C., of N.W.A. with their new band Co-Defendants. They recently released their album Lifers and are presently touring. Be on the Look Out for when they hit your city!

Rebelmatic has released a new album, Sting the Devil, available now!

Cannibal Ox has released a 25th anniversary vinyl edition of their legendary album The Cold Vein.

Robin Hood has released new music too!

Boots Riley’s new movie, I Love Boosters is a hit, deservedly so. Check it out in theaters near you.

Rachel Turetzky, PhD. & Douglas Wingate have just released the workbook version for their book, 8 Circuit Ascension.

Lastly, check out this ‘No Kings’ mix from DJ Steve Fly!!